Bible Study: May 13, 2026

Prayer  

As always, we'll begin with a prayer. Is there anything from the past week you'd like to mention for us to pray about? Perhaps a prayer was answered since our last meeting, or maybe something wonderful occurred that you want to praise God for by sharing with us? Afterwards, we can also discuss prayer requests for any challenges and for the people we care about.

Praise

O for the Wisdom from Above

O for the wisdom from above,

Pure, gentle, peaceable, and mild,

The innocence of the dove,

The meekness of a little child.

Wise may we be to know the truth,

Reveal'd in every Scripture page;

Wise to salvation from our youth,

And wiser grow from stage to stage.

Then if to riper years, we rise,

And well the work of grace be wrought

Within ourselves,--we shall be wise

To teach in turn what we were taught.

Yet still be learning, day by day,

More of God's Word, God's way, God's will;

His law, rejoicing to obey,

Pleas'd His whole pleasure to fulfill,

Wise to win souls, if thus we're led,

How blest will be our lot below,

Blessings to share, and blessings shed

On all with whom to heaven we go.

So may we reach that home at length,

And, clad in righteousness divine,

Even as the sun, when in his strength,

And as the stars, for ever, shine.

Passage: 1Kings 3:1-15

 3 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. ² The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the Lord. ³ Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.

⁴ The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. ⁵ At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

⁶ Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

⁷ “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. ⁸ Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. ⁹ So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. ¹¹ So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, ¹² I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. ¹³ Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. ¹⁴ And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” ¹⁵ Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.

He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.

Ponder

1.      What warms your heart from this passage or praise moment? Why?

2.      Your pastor has brought this text to bible study during our series on prayer. But…is this a prayer? Why do you think it is or isn't?

3.      The text tells us in verse one that Solomon marries Pharoah’s daughter. Huh. Then Solomon goes to Gibeon (the most important place for sacrifice at the time) and offers, literally, ‘a thousand sacrifices’ […] in ‘the high place.’ Huh. So here’s the question: Why you do think the author is leaving these bits of information in the text here? And do you think it has anything to do with God’s proviso in His promise in verse fourteen? Huh. What do you think the Bible is driving at by making sure people years from then would know that?

4.      How does Solomon refer to himself in verse seven—and why do you think he calls himself that when he’s a full-grown man? And what do you think this can tell us about his current situation and how he’s handling it so far?

5.      In verse nine, Solomon asks God for a discerning heart to govern the people…and to be able to tell the difference between right and wrong as he starts ruling the country. Where do your thoughts immediately go when you hear that…and why do you think that Solmon’s request here in verse ten pleases God so much?

6.      As Solomon becomes king, he’s in a moment of transition here between the double-meaning ‘high place’ and his desire to serve ‘the LORD my God’ in his life. The desires of our heart work the same way. So, here’s the question: if God showed up where you were and said to you, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you” would it be a challenge or opportunity for you…and why?  If you were to rule where we are, what would you ask for?

Purposeful Prayer

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